1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to both a treatment and a method of processing contaminated sediment of the type normally found in a body of water such as a river, lake, etc. as a result of pollution. The contaminated sediment, once collected and separated from the body of water is stabilized and caused to be solidified into a solid structural configuration which facilitates disposal in a safe manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
The problem of waste disposal has grown dramatically with the growth of the overall population as well as the worldwide increase of modern day industrialization facilities. Even though there are in existence widely accepted techniques for reducing pollution, the accumulation of waste of both the industrial and non-industrial variety continues to increase to the extent that safe disposal of waste is one of the major problems existing in most industrialized countries of the world.
The attempts to develop meaningful and effective waste disposal facilities have resulted in the development of numerous technologies directed to this specific problem. By way of example, techniques involving-the stabilization or isolation of waste materials, particularly but not exclusively, hazardous waste materials, have long been recognized as effective means in the treatment of waste for the purposes of eventual disposal. Indeed, in utilizing any treatment system and/or method, the overall goal is the treatment of waste to obtain the most inert and insoluble form which is chemically and economically feasible.
More particularly, stabilization systems attempt to reduce the solubility or chemical reactivity of waste by changing its chemical state or by physical entrapment of the waste in some type of surrounding barrier. Isolation systems and processes attempt to place the waste into an easily handled solid with reduced hazards from volatilization, leaching, spillage, etc. These two processes or systems are often used in conjunction with one another because they have a common purpose of improving the containment of potential pollutants in the treatment and eventual disposal of waste. The combined utilization of these two systems or processes are often termed "waste fixation" or "encapsulation". While isolation and stabilization of waste materials is widely practiced in the disposal of radioactive waste, some general techniques may be applicable to the treatment of more conventional waste sources.
Regulations pertaining to the disposal of general hazardous waste requires that the waste be converted into a free standing solid containing a minor amount of free water. Unfortunately, however, when dealing with contaminated sediments in large bodies of water, minimization of free water can be difficult to achieve. Specifically, present environmental regulations provide that contaminated water, once removed from a body of water, cannot be drained back into or otherwise returned to the body of water from which it came unless it is within acceptable levels of purity. Naturally these guidelines require treatment and/or purification of the water, or disposal of the water, procedures that can be difficult or impractical using known methods. For example, water is very difficult to dispose of because of its fluid state, and water purification can often be a time consuming or a specialized thing requiring extensive containment of the fluid. Moreover, mere filtration of the fluid does not suffice due to the microscopic nature of many contaminants.
As such, there is still a need in the waste treatment and disposal area for the treatment and processing of more conventional sites such as rivers, lakes, etc. wherein such bodies of water include extremely large amounts of contaminated waste created through the result of exposing such bodies of water to industrial as well as non-industrial pollutants on a continuous and long term basis. A preferred system specifically designed for the effective treatment of contaminated sediment associated with polluted bodies of water should be sufficiently economical to allow the large scale application of such a preferred system. Moreover, it should preferably be structured to eliminate the needs for the transport and storage of the large volumes of water for treatment. Similarly, a preferred method of practicing such a system also should be effective to the point of reducing the collected contaminated sediment waste into a form which is safe for disposal without fear or danger of re-contaminating the environment at the site or location of disposal.